How often should you eat? Some experts say you need six small meals a day, while traditionalists stick with the three-squares-a-day principle. But which one is right for you? You always have to take your own individual needs into consideration when listening to diet advice that's meant for the masses. If you’re always on the go and can’t imagine finding the time to sit down three times a day for a meal, you’re probably more of a grazer, and it would be pointless to try and change that.

The more smaller meals you eat in a day, the better your metabolism is likely to be. But a pitfall is that you’re also probably more likely to grab anything that’s nearby when you’re hungry. You need to plan your mini-meals ahead of time and bring healthy foods from home you can munch on all day. On the flip side, if you enjoy sitting down to breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, you have to watch out for portion sizes, as well as what you’re snacking on between meals.

Neither method is necessarily better than the other, as long as you’re aware of the ups and downs of your eating habits. So whether you eat three meals a day or graze from dawn to dusk, just remember the most important thing is to do what works best for you.

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